Couple's labored goodbye led to NJ airport breach

Port Authority police look on as travelers walk through a terminal Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2010, at Newark Liberty International Airport, in Newark, N.J. A security breach at the airport on Sunday evening forced major delays and grounded flights for hours. The Transportation Security Administration said

/ AP

Port Authority police look on as travelers walk through a terminal Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2010, at Newark Liberty International Airport, in Newark, N.J. A security breach at the airport on Sunday evening forced major delays and grounded flights for hours. The Transportation Security Administration said a man who caused the security breach at the airport, left about 20 minutes after he walked the wrong way through a security checkpoint. (AP Photo/Mel Evans)

Port Authority police look on as travelers walk through a terminal Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2010, at Newark Liberty International Airport, in Newark, N.J. A security breach at the airport on Sunday evening forced major delays and grounded flights for hours. The Transportation Security Administration said a man who caused the security breach at the airport, left about 20 minutes after he walked the wrong way through a security checkpoint. (AP Photo/Mel Evans) (/ AP)

DAVID PORTER, Associated Press Writer

Call it the tortured airport goodbye felt around the world.

A man struggling to say goodbye to a female companion took advantage of a guard's absence to sneak past a Newark Liberty International Airport security checkpoint Sunday evening, causing a terminal shutdown the delayed flights across the globe and calling into question just how secure the nation's airports really are.

The video shows a man embracing a woman before she enters a secured, passengers-only area of the terminal.

The man stations himself near an exit lane, where departing passengers pass a security guard to leave the terminal. A minute or so later, after the guard leaves his podium for several seconds, the woman comes back toward the exit and motions to the man, who ducks under the rope and walks into the passenger-only area.

During the time the guard was away from his post, dozens of passengers are seen walking out through the exit lane, further obscuring the man and woman. Someone waiting for an arriving passenger notified the security officer.

The security officer has been placed on administrative leave while the TSA investigates the breach.

One of Newark's terminals was closed for six hours Sunday night, stranding thousands of passengers and wreaking havoc on flight schedules around the world for more than a day.

During a news conference at the airport Wednesday, Lautenberg and fellow Sen. Robert Menendez and Rep. Donald Payne, also of New Jersey, criticized the TSA for the actions of the guard and for the revelation that the security camera at the checkpoint was streaming live video but wasn't recording at the time of the incident.

That forced TSA officials to seek out footage from security cameras operated by Continental Airlines, which delayed the notification of law enforcement personnel on site for about an hour.

Another surveillance camera showed the man leaving by a separate exit about 20 minutes after he entered. He has not been identified or located, but TSA spokeswoman Ann Davis said he would face criminal charges if he is found.

Lautenberg wasn't immediately available for comment on the video Thursday, but said in a statement that "the release of this video will give law enforcement another tool to help find the person who breached the security gate at Newark Liberty Airport. I encourage this individual or anyone with knowledge of his identity to immediately contact law enforcement."

Davis did not immediately return a message seeking comment on the surveillance video.